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History of Video
Conferencing
The history of video conferencing -- moving ahead at the speed of video
September 22, 2004
By: Lori Wilkerson
No new technology develops smoothly, and video conferencing
had more than its share of bumps along the way before
becoming the widely used communications staple it is today.
The history of video conferencing in its earliest form goes
back to the 1960’s, when AT&T introduced the Picturephone at
the World’s Fair in New York. While viewed as a fascinating
curiosity, it never became popular and was too expensive to
be practical for most consumers when it was offered for $160
a month in 1970.
Commercial use of real video conferencing was first
realized with Ericsson’s demonstration of the first
trans-Atlantic LME video telephone call. Soon other
companies began refining video conferencing technologies,
including such advancements as network video protocol (NVP)
in 1976 and packet video protocol (PVP) in 1981. None of
these were put into commercial use, however, and stayed in
the laboratory or private company use.
In 1976, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone established video
conferencing (VC) between Tokyo and Osaka for company use.
IBM Japan followed suit in 1982 by establishing VC running
at 48000bps to link up with already established internal IBM
video conferencing links in the United States so that they
could have weekly meetings.
The 1980’s introduce commercial video conferencing
In 1982, Compression Labs introduces their VC system to
the world for $250,000 with lines for $1,000 an hour. The
system was huge and used enormous resources capable of
tripping 15 amp circuit breakers. It was, however, the only
working VC system available until PictureTel’s VC hit the
market in 1986 with their substantially cheaper $80,000
system with $100 per hour lines.
In the time in between these two commercially offered
systems, there were other video conferencing systems
developed that were never offered commercially. The history
of video conferencing isn’t complete without mentioning
these systems that were either prototypes or systems
developed specifically for in-house use by a variety of
corporations or organizations, including the military.
Around 1984, Datapoint was using the Datapoint MINX system
on their Texas campus, and had provided the system to the
military.
In the late 1980’s, Mitsubishi began selling a
still-picture phone that was basically a flop in the market
place. They dropped the line two years after introducing it.
In 1991, the first PC based video conferencing system was
introduced by IBM -- PicTel. It was a black and white system
using what was at the time an incredibly inexpensive $30 per
hour for the lines, while the system itself was $20,000. In
June of the same year, DARTnet had successfully connected a
transcontinental IP network of over a dozen research sites
in the United States and Great Britain using T1 trunks.
Today, DARTnet has evolved into the CAIRN system, which
connects dozens of institutions.
CU-SeeMe revolutionizes video conferencing
One of the most famous systems in the history of video
conferencing was the CU-SeeMe developed for the MacIntosh
system in 1992. Although the first version didn’t have
audio, it was the best video system developed to that point.
By 1993, the Mac program had multipoint capability, and in
1994, CU-SeeMe Mac was true video conferencing with audio.
Recognizing the limitations of Mac compatibility in a
Windows world, developers worked diligently to roll out the
April 1994 CU-SeeME for Windows (no audio), followed closely
by the audio version, CU-SeeMe v0.66b1 for Windows in August
of 1995.
In 1992, AT&T rolled out their own $1,500 video phone for
the home market. It was a borderline success. That same
year, the world’s first MBone audio/video broadcast took
place and in July INRIA’s video conferencing system was
introduced. This is the year that saw the first real
explosion in video conferencing for businesses around the
globe and eventually led to the standards developed by the
ITU.
International Telecommunications Union develops coding
standards
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) began
developing standards for video conferencing coding in 1996,
when they established Standard H.263 to reduce bandwidth for
transmission for low bit rate communication. Other standards
were developed, including H.323 for packet-based multi-media
communications. These are a variety of other
telecommunications standards were revised and updated in
1998. In 1999, Standard MPEG-4 was developed by the Moving
Picture Experts Group as an ISO standard for multimedia
content.
In 1993, VocalChat Novell IPX networks introduced their
video conferencing system, but it was doomed from the start
and didn’t last. Microsoft finally came on board the video
conferencing bandwagon with NetMeeting, a descendent of
PictureTel’s Liveshare Plus, in August of 1996 (although it
didn’t have video in this release). By December of the same
year, Microsoft NetMeeting v2.0b2 with video had been
released. That same month, VocalTec’s Internet Phone v4.0
for Windows was introduced.
VRVS links global research centers
The Virtual Room Videoconferencing System (VRVS) project
at Caltech-CERN kicked off in July of 1997. They developed
the VRVS specifically to provide video conferencing to
researchers on the Large Hadron Collider Project and
scientists in the High Energy and Nuclear Physics Community
in the U.S. and Europe. It has been so successful that seed
money has been allotted for phase two, CalREN-2, to improve
and expand on the already in-place VRVS system in order to
expand it to encompass geneticists, doctors, and a host of
other scientists in the video conferencing network around
the world.
Cornell University’s development team released CU-SeeMe
v1.0 in 1998. This color video version was compatible with
both Windows and MacIntosh, and huge step forward in pc
video conferencing. By May of that year, the team has moved
on to other projects.
In February of 1999, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
was launched by MMUSIC. The platform showed some advantages
over H.323 that user appreciated and soon made it almost as
popular. 1999 was a very busy year, with NetMeeting v3.0b
coming out, followed quickly by version three of the ITU
standard H.323. Then came the release of iVisit v2.3b5 for
both Windows and Mac, followed by Media Gateway Control
Protocol (MGCP), version 1. In December, Microsoft released
a service pack for NetMeeting v3.01 (4.4.3388) and an ISO
standard MPEG-4 version two was released. Finally, PSInet
was the first company to launch H.323 automated multipoint
services. Like we said, 1999 was a very busy year.
SIP entered version 1.30 in November of 2000, the same
year that standard H.323 hit version 4, and Samsung released
their MPEG-4 streaming 3G video cell phone, the first of its
kind. It was a hit, particularly in Japan. Rather
predictably, Microsoft NetMeeting had to release another
service pack for version 3.01.
In 2001, Windows XP messenger announced that it would now
support Session Initiation Protocol. This was the same year
the world’s first transatlantic tele-surgery took place
utilizing video conferencing. In this instance, video
conferencing was instrumental in allowing a surgeon in the
U.S. to use a robot overseas to perform gall bladder surgery
on a patient. It was one of the most compelling non-business
uses in the history of video conferencing, and brought the
technology to the attention of the medical profession and
the general public.
In October of 2001, television reporters began using a
portable satellite and a videophone to broadcast live from
Afghanistan during the war. It was the first use of video
conferencing technology to converse live with video with
someone in a war zone, again bringing video conferencing to
the forefront of people’s imaginations.
Founded in December of 2001, the Joint Video Team
completed basic research leading to ITU-T H.264 by December
of 2002. This protocol standardized video compression
technology for both MPEG-4 and ITU-T over a broad range of
application areas, making it more versatile than its
predecessors. In March of 2003, the new technology was ready
for launch to the industry.
New uses for video conferencing technologies
2003 also saw the rise in use of video conferencing for
off-campus classrooms. Interactive classrooms became more
popular as the quality of streaming video increased and the
delay decreased. Companies such as VBrick provided various
MPEG-4 systems to colleges across the country. Desktop video
conferencing is also on the rise and gaining popularity.
Companies newer to the market are now refining the
details of performance in addition to the nuts and bolts of
transmission. In April of 2004, Applied Global Technologies
developed a voice-activated camera for use in video
conferencing that tracks the voice of various speakers in
order to focus on whoever is speaking during a conference
call. In March 2004, Linux announced the release of
GnomeMeeting, an H.323 compliant, free video conferencing
platform that is NetMeeting compatible.
With the constant advances in video conferencing systems,
it seems obvious that the technology will continue to evolve
and become an integral part of business and personal life.
As new advances are made and systems become more reasonably
priced, keep in mind that choices are still determined by
network type, system requirements and what your particular
conferencing needs are.
About the Author
Lori Wilkerson is a full-time freelance writer who loves her
job because it gives her the opportunity to learn more about
the world every day. Right now, she knows a little bit about
almost everything, and a lot about
video
conferencing, renting a
video conference
facility, and which
videoconferencing conferencing solution is best for
small groups. She has two dogs who are spoiled and one
teenager who is not. She does her video conferencing in pink
bunny slippers.
Also See:
[ The
new Internet video phone technology from Skype ]
[
Video conferencing & telemedicine working together in the
medical field ]
[ Top 7 video
conferencing tips to ensure effective virtual meetings ]
Home Page:
[ Video-Conferencing-Guide.com ]
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